Leaving a column blank in an insurance proposal form does not amount to furnishing a false answer and an insurer cannot reject a claim on this ground, rules the national consumer disputes redressal commission (NCDRC). It also directed Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company Ltd to pay the death insurance claim of Rs25 lakh with 9% interest per annum to the complainant.
In an order passed on 11 August 2025, the NCDRC bench of Dr Inderjit Singh and Dr Sudhir Kumar Jain says, "On perusal of the relevant portion of the proposal form, we see merit in the contentions of the appellant(s) and agree with their reasoning that leaving a column blank in the proposal form does not amount to giving the false answer and had this information being material, the insurance company ought to have insisted on getting these columns filled before issuing the policy. There appears to be no wilful intention on the part of the deceased insured to conceal or suppress any material information by leaving this column blank."
"Moreover, it is seen that the entire form is type-filled, and in all probability, has been filled either by an official or agent of the insurance company, and not by the deceased insured himself. Hence, they ought to have filled all columns, including the questions on existing or proposed insurance rather than leaving these blank," it added.
NCDRC passed the order while hearing an appeal filed by Chhoti Devi, now deceased, against Bharti AXA Life Insurance. The case involved the company’s rejection of a life insurance claim following the death of Ms Devi’s son, Padam Soni.
Mr Soni had purchased a Rs25 lakh life insurance policy in December 2015 with an annual premium of Rs10,900. He died of a heart attack in January 2017. On 8 June 2017, the claim filed by his mother was repudiated by Bharti AXA on the grounds that Mr Soni had allegedly concealed details of existing policies in the proposal form.
Ms Devi filed a complaint before the Rajasthan state consumer disputes redressal commission. However, on 26 March 2021, the state commission dismissed the complaint. Since Ms Devi died, her legal heirs filed an appeal before NCDRC, challenging the order passed by the state commission.
During the hearing, NCDRC noted that the proposal form was digitally filled out by the insurer’s agent in English and the column regarding existing policies had been left blank. Ms Devi’s heirs argued that the company itself had issued three policies to the insured earlier and, therefore, was already aware of them.
In its repudiation letter on 8 June 2017, Bharti AXA had claimed that Mr Soni had answered 'No' to the question on existing or previous policies. However, the complainants contended that the proposal form showed otherwise. "The 'No' response was given only to a different query—whether any insurer had ever declined or postponed a proposal or issued a substandard rating. Bharti AXA Life Insurance had incorrectly stated Mr Soni’s response in its repudiation letter and the state commission had overlooked this crucial fact while upholding the claim denial."
They further contended that the state commission had erred in law by overlooking key facts. They say, "Concealment can only be alleged in respect of information exclusively within the insured’s knowledge. In this case, Bharti AXA Life Insurance itself had issued three insurance policies to Mr Soni, two of them on the same day, 8 December 2015. The existence of these policies was therefore well within the company’s knowledge. Despite this, the insurer repudiated the death claim on the ground of concealment of facts."
NCDRC says, “We see merit in the contentions of the appellants and agree with their reasoning that leaving a column blank in the proposal form does not amount to giving a false answer. Had this information been material, the insurance company ought to have insisted on getting these columns filled before issuing the policy.”
The commission further pointed out that the entire proposal form appeared to have been filled by an official or agent of Bharti AXA and, therefore, the responsibility to ensure all details were properly entered lay with the insurer.
Setting aside the state commission’s earlier order in favour of the insurance company, NCDRC directed Bharti AXA to release the sum assured within 45 days along with 9% annual interest from the date of filing of the claim.
(First Appeal No722 of 2021 Date: 11 August 2025)
